Heritage sites in Bahrain saw a jump of more than 31 per cent in visitor numbers in 2024, compared to the previous year, according to recently published data.
The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) has published its latest visitor numbers on the Open Data Portal.
Overall, more than 1.4 million visits were recorded at the heritage sites across Bahrain, a 31pc increase over the nearly 1.07m visits in 2023.
The Tree of Life site and visitor’s centre remained the most popular site, with 352,547 visits, although this number was 29pc lower than the 2023 tally of 493,410 visits.
Pearling Path
The Pearling Path Visitor Centre saw a nearly 58-fold increase in its visitor numbers, jumping from 4,614 in 2023 to 270,167 in 2024.
In Muharraq, the Archaeologies of Green Pavilion, as well as the Bu Maher Fort and Information Centre, also saw significant year-over-year increases in annual visitor numbers, from 186 to 3,250 and 18,996 to 110,155 , respectively.
Prominent family homes, renovated within the last several years and located at the Pearling Path also proved to be popular destinations.
This included Al Jalahma House (69,987), Fakhro House (63,331), Badr Gulum and Turabi House (51,998), Siyadi Majlis (51,115), Al Ghus House (34,021) and Al Alawi House (9,673).
The Muharraq Nights Festival and an increased focus on Bahrain’s maritime heritage is likely responsible for this jump in visitor numbers.
The breakdown of the most visited destinations last year
The GDN had previously reported that in total, more than half a million visits were recorded at the various sites during Muharraq Nights, according to the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority.
Meanwhile, the recently published Baca data shows that there was a 41pc drop in visitors to Bait Al Jasra in 2024, compared to 2023, from 5,191 to 3,037.
Al Jasra Handicrafts Centre also recorded 7,085 visits in 2024.
Visits to the Bani Jamra Weaving Textiles Factory remained more or less consistent, with 1,433 visits in 2024 and 1,466 in 2023.
Bahrain Fort (Qal’at Al Bahrain) saw a 50pc drop from 415,151 to 208,966.
Visitor Numbers to various sites from 2014 to 2024
However, it was the third most popular destination on the list in 2024.
Additionally, the onsite museum saw a 35pc increase in visitor numbers from 8,914 to 12,009.
The Basket Weaving House near Qal’at Al Bahrain recorded 3,310 visits.
Arad Fort saw a 23pc increase in visitors, from 4,624 to 5,696.
The Saar Burial Complexes received 2,072 visitors, down from 3,478 the previous year.
The National Museum
The National Museum, which was the fourth most visited site in 2024, saw its visitor tally jump by 29pc, from 94,949 in 2023 to 122,153 in 2024.
The top five destinations, by visitor numbers, last year were, in order:
- Tree of Life
- Pearling Path Visitor Centre
- Bahrain Fort (Qal’at Al Bahrain)
- National Museum and
- Bu Maher Fort
A total of more than 1m visits were recorded at these five sites.
Other popular sites included the Post Office Museum, which saw a 47pc increase from 6,103 visits in 2023 to 8,976 visits in 2024, Shaikh Salman Bin Ahmed Al Fateh Fort (5,094), Al Khamis Mosque (1,316) and Barbar Temple (1,754).
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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